Remember December
by Laylaenchantix101
Summary: Based on the song by Demi Lovato. Carter can't remember anything. All he remembers is a girl named Zia, but even that's fading away. Who are the people who claim they're his friends? And who is Zia? And what about a war? But most importantly...who is he?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello peoples. My new fanfic, based on Remember December by Demi Lovato. Hope you all will like it. I know it won't be perfect, but hey, a girl can try.**

**I don't own KC or the song. Boo hoo.**

* * *

Carter awoke to a pounding headache. But that wasn't the only problem. His vision was filled with unfamiliar faces, all of them looking concerned.

"Carter? Are you okay?" a girl asked. She had short black hair, and Arab features. She was wearing cotton pajamas, a boomerang strapped to her waist.

"Who...who are you?" he asked. The headache was starting to grow.

The girl's face twisted in confusion. "Carter, it's me. Aarya."

He had never heard that name before. "I don't know you."

"That's too bad," a boy next to her snorted. He had dirty blonde hair and pale skin. He, too, was wearing cotton pajamas, but instead of a boomerang, he had a sword strapped to his side.

"Peter!" another girl scolded. Her hair was white with pale skin. She was also...what was up with the cotton pajamas?

Looking closer, he realized that her hair was actually white. Not like the super bright blonde, but actual white. Who were these people?

"Whatever, Oddette," the boy, Peter, snorted.

"Don't call me that!" Odette snapped.

Aarya looked at Carter apologetically. "Sorry about that, Carter. I'm going to go get the others to see." She stood up and left.

Peter peered at Carter uncertainly. "Dude, are you sure you don't remember me? I'm your best friend."

"And you know well enough to call me Ette, not my full name," Odette added, glaring at Peter.

"Um...no. I don't know either of you. Or whoever that girl was," Carter said. He tried to stand up, but as soon as his his feet touched the floor, the pain in his head increased.

"Stay on the bed," Ette said. Carter figured he should call her that, considering her reaction to her full name.

Aarya came back with four more people.

"I guess I should re-introduce you to them," Aarya sighed. She pointed to herself. "I'm Aarya. This is Peter." She pointed to Peter. "Ette, who's real name is Odette." Odette glared at Aarya.

Aarya pointed to the girl with brown hair with blue highlights in it. "And here's Paige."

Paige smiled. "I can't believe you don't recognize your girlfriend, Carter. How sad.

Aarya's face heated up. "Shut up, Paige."

"Well, it's true."

Aarya ignored her and pointed to a buff-looking kid. "Hunter."

"'Sup, Carter?" Hunter nodded at him, but Carter detected a note of hostility in his tone.

"Irma." A girl with blonde hair waved at him. She was small, but she was probably undoubtbly fast.

"And Saul." The last one was a boy with black hair. He nodded at Carter, but said nothing.

"Do you really not remember us?" Irma asked.

"Um...no."

"We were battling the House of Life," Paige said.

"The House of what?"

"Life. Now stop interrupting," Paige snapped. "We were battling a group of people. What Nome were they again?" Paige asked.

Odette shrugged. "I don't know. The Twenty-First?"

"Gnomes?" Carter asked, thinking of garden gnomes.

Irma shuddered. "I hate those things. No. N-O-M-E."

Carter had the distinct feeling he had heard that before.

"Anyway," Paige continued. "One of them cast a spell on you and made you lose your memory. You hit your head pretty hard. It was a good thing that we got to you before that weirdo girl did. Zia?"

Aarya scowled and smacked Paige's arm. "_Don't _talk about her."

"Okay, okay. Gosh, Aarya. Calm down," Paige grumbled, rubbing her arm.

Carter frowned. Zia...he knew that name. A girl. Someone he knew. Someone he cared about.

"And by the way, Aarya is your girlfriend," Ette added.

"What?"

"Shut up, Ette!" Aarya said hotly. She looked at Carter. "You should rest. You hit your head hard."

Carter didn't remember anything. He was pretty sure he had never met these people in his entire life. But he didn't argue. He just closed his eyes and went to sleep, shutting out all sounds.

* * *

Zia paced around the library, searching through scrolls and jotting down notes.

Sadie appeared beside her, reading the notes Zia was writing down. "Zia, you should probably rest. We'll find him. I promise."

"I don't know, Sadie," Zia sighed. "This has me so worked up..."

"Amos is Cheif Lector, and-"

"I know he's Cheif Lector, Sadie."

Sadie shot her a look that said _Can I continue please? _Zia shrugged, showing that she didn't care.

"Amos has his best magicians searching for Carter. We will find him, even if we have to strangle the answer out of Apophis.

Zia smiled weakly before returning to her notes. She didn't know why she was so worked up over Carter's disappearence. The people who took them...

"No."


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own the Kane Chronicals.**

* * *

Carter's head felt like it had been bashed a hundred times with a baseball bat, his skull taken out and run over by a truck, and put back in his head, where the sharp remains poked at his brain.

He had quite the imagination. He wondered if anyone had ever told him that.

"Carter? Your head still hurting?" Ette asked him.

"Jaz." The word popped out of his mouth before he realized what he was saying.

Ette's face darkened before turning into a confused frown. "Who?"

Carter tried to cling to the memory, but it faded. "Nothing."

"Here, drink some of this." Ette thrust a gold cup in his face. Carter shook his head.

"Drink it!" she growled.

"I'm not thirsty!" he protested.

"You've been knocked unconscious! I think it's best if you did drink it!" Ette snapped, forcing his mouth open.

Carter bit down on her finger. She yelped and dropped the cup, spilling it all over the floor.

"Idiot!" she hissed. "I'm out of here!" Ette stood up and stomped out of the room, the sound of her footsteps giving Carter a bigger headache.

There was a long moment of silence. Carter sighed in relief and closed his eyes. Jaz. Another name he thought he knew.

The third one.

The second one he remembered-only slightly- was Sadie. It sent a surge of protectiveness and slight annoyance.

The first…Zia Rashid. He felt something; something so painful and strong it was almost physical.

"Everything okay?" a voice asked. Carter jumped, which caused him pain. Aarya had been so quiet he hadn't even heard her coming.

"Yeah, just fine…" Carter studied her closely. She seemed so familiar…he just couldn't place it.

"Zia." Again, it was out of his mouth before he could stop it. Aarya turned to him, a bitter look on her face.

"Zia is part of a group," she whispered. "She's the _enemy. _The one who's trying to kill us all. But she's a nobody without her friends. A worthless, stupid person."

"No she's not!" Carter could feel anger bubble up inside him, but he didn't know why. He hardly remembered this Zia, but he felt something…something physical.

Again with that word.

Aarya looked startled. "Carter, she took your _memory. _How could you possibly defend her?"

Carter said nothing. He didn't trust himself to speak. He didn't trust these people. Especially Aarya. But something was familiar…

Gold eyes. Aarya had golden eyes.

Just like Zia.

"I don't remember her," he finally said, after a long pause. "But I don't think she's a terrible person."

Aarya's eyes flashed, but it was gone so quickly that Carter wondered if he just imagined it.

"Whatever," she muttered. Then, louder, she continued, "Ette told me what happened. I know you're not feeling very well, but you need to drink that water. It's a special concoction that Ette made, and it's supposed to make you feel better. Can you just take it? Please?"

Carter opened his mouth to protest, but shut it again. "Sure," he said through clenched teeth.

Aarya nodded, satisfied. Once she left the room, though, Carter exhaled and slowly uncrossed his index and middle finger.

* * *

Carter dreamed that he was a chicken flying through cold air.

Lights flashed beneath him. Darkness surrounded him. There was a large, run down mansion, but when he got closer, it looked a lot more livable, and much nicer.

He traveled towards one of the windows, where he could make out two voices arguing.

"-_stupid _enough to bring him back!" one voice yelled. It had a slight British accent. Looking inside, Chicken Carter could see a blonde haired girl, waving her hands like a crazed maniac at another person.

"Besides, I thought you said they were all dead," the British girl continued, calming slightly.

Key word _slightly. _

"That's what I thought, too," the second girl whispered. She trembled, but then she clenched herself together. "They have him."

_**Me, **_Carter thought. _**They're talking about me.**_

"I don't see how Carter is going to fit into their plans. I mean, really. He can be a git sometimes," the first girl scoffed. Chicken Carter rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"I don't know," the second girl said softly, sitting on the bed. Something in her tone made it sound like she was lying.

"Zia, I'm sorry." The first girl put a hand on Zia's shoulder.

"Zia!" The words, once again, spit out of his mouth.

What was wrong with him today?

The girl turned around, towards the window. It happened so fast. He felt something tug at him. Just before he was ripped away, he caught a glimpse of golden eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Gah! I'm so sorry! I tried to update this week, but the stupid iPad wouldn't work! Gah!**

* * *

Carter rubbed his face the next morning, exahusted. Stupid weird dreams that made you look a chicken. They really took a lot out of you.

No, seriously. They did.

How annoying.

"Wakey wakey, Carter," Ette's voice said flatly. Carter looked up and saw the white-haired girl holding a tray of food, along with water. Her finger was wrapped in a bandage.

Carter sat up and glanced at her warily.

"Eat up." Ette placed the tray on his lap and abruptly left the room, not giving him the chance to speak.

Carter started to eat, slightly wary as he swallowed it. What if it were posioned?

Gosh, was he always this paranoid? No wonder Sadie thought he was annoying.

Wait. Sadie, his sister.

Carter clung to the memory desperatly, trying to think more about it. Evil chaos snake. Senile god that turned into his girlfriend...

That one wasn't a very pleasant one, but it was still a memory.

_Girlfriend? _

The thought made his heart flutter. Aarya had to be lying. Everyone had to be. The only question was why. Why not take Sadie? Sure, it'd probably make him worried, but at least he wouldn't have to deal with her endless chatter.

Okay, bad thought. Really bad thought.

"Carter?" a voice asked softly. Carter jumped at the sound of Aarya's voice.

"You scared me," he mumbled.

"I seem to do that a lot, don't I?" Aarya chuckled and sat down next to him. "Come on, drink up."

Carter sighed. He would have to drink the water eventually, otherwise he would die of dehydration. But no way was he drinking it. He was too paranoid for that.

"Do you want me to do it for you?" Aarya teased.

Carter shot her an annoyed look. "I can do it myself!"

"Of course you can."

"I can!"

"Prove it, then."

"Fine!" Carter lifted the glass and gulped down the water. Once he drained the last drop, he dropped the cup and clutched his head.

"Carter!" He felt arms wrap around him as the pain built in his head.

Carter gasped as another memory filled his head. A birthday party. Peter, Aarya, Hunter, Ette, Irma, and Paige, laughing. Pie stuck in face. A snake necklace.

"Do you remember something?" Aarya asked.

"I...I think I did." Carter shook his head. The memory wasn't right. It couldn't be! It couldn't. These guys weren't trustworthy. They just weren't. The memories had to be fake.

Right?

Right.

Gosh, this was confusing, even for him.

Slowly, Carter laid back down. He mentally groaned, realizing that Aarya had tricked him.

Stupid manly ego. It _always _had to get in the way.

* * *

Aarya watched him sleep fitfully. She patted his shoulder softly, somewhat comforted at the sounds he made.

"What're you doing?" a voice asked gruffly. Aarya turned to see Hunter, his arms crossed, scowling.

"What does it look like?" Aarya snapped.

"Aarya..." his voice softened. "He's waiting for us."

"I know," she said bitterly. "I'm well aware of that." Aarya rubbed the necklace on her neck.

"Let's not keep him waiting."

Aarya looked at Carter's sleeping form. So calm, so peaceful.

She almost felt bad for ripping it all away.


	4. Chapter 4

When Carter woke up, he was alone. He groaned quietly, taking a deep breath. Ugh, what _happened? _He felt like his brain had...

Okay, now wasn't the time to go into that.

"Carter, are you feeling better?" Aarya's voice asked.

Carter fell off the bed with a loud _thud. _He groaned and struggled to stand up. Aarya stood there, trying (not very hard) to muffle her laughter.

"You've got to stop doing that," Carter groaned.

"But it's fun." Aarya's mouth twisted into a smirk. "Besides, it seems like you're doing better. Right?"

"Yeah, right," he mumbled.

Aarya poked him. "Are you ready to begin training again?"

Carter raised an eyebrow. "Training?"

"For the attack." Aarya's eyebrows furrowed. "Carter, I know they took your memory...but this is important."

"Attack? What attack?" Carter asked.

"The attack against the Twenty-First Nome," Aarya said seriously. "You need to be ready by that time. You _have _to."

Carter stepped back. "But why?"

"It's what we've been planning," Aarya whispered. "What we've all been planning."

Carter shook his head. "No."

"No? What do you mean, 'no'?" she snapped. Her eyes narrowed in anger. "Well?"

"I...I...no, I can't. I don't remember much, but I know that I actually _like _the Twenty-First Nome."

Aarya clenched her fists. "Zia," she hissed. "It's all her fault that you're like this."

"What are you talking...? What do you have against her?"

Her face softened. "Because she broke your heart," she murmured. Then, louder, she said, "Training. Get ready and don't be late."

"But-"

Aarya was already gone.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Carter emerged from his room. He was feeling better then he had since he had woken up, but was still groggy.

Stupid...

His thoughts trailed off when he saw the seven people stare at him.

"Are you okay?" Paige asked.

"Just peachy," Carter muttered sarcastically.

"Good!" Hunter said, equally cheerful as Carter was sarcastic. "Who do you want to spar?"

"Spar?" Carter asked. "Don't you...uh, wave boomerangs around?"

Paige snorted. "Ha, no. We prefer hand-to-hand combat. We don't want to wear ourselves out by using magic. A waste of time, if you ask me."

Ette rolled her eyes. "Well, come on."

"Uh...can I just go?"

Hunter snorted. "Big bad Carter giving up already?"

Carter glared at him. "No. I don't know what's going on. Simple as that."

"He had his head bashed," Irma said sympathetically. "Cut him some slack, Hunter."

Carter was tempted to yell, but he had a feeling that was exactly what this Hunter guy wanted.

"Everyone, shut up," Peter snapped. He turned to Aarya. "We spar, then?"

"Fine." Aarya gave him a curt nod. Carter sighed in relief and leaned against the wall.

Just then, something glinted on Aarya's neck.

A necklace.

A snake necklace.

Something burned in Carter's mind. A memory was coming back, but it was so strong and powerful he groaned and got to his knees, clutching his head.

The sun...

A statue...

Girlfriend turning into a god...

"Is he okay?" a voice asked. The world around him was churning. Churning...

_SNAP._

Carter shook his head. Above him, Aarya was glowering, her face a mask of annoyance and anger.

"Well?" she snapped. "You happy?"

"Wha...what was that...?"

"What was what?" Aarya asked impatiently.

Carter scowled. "Nothing. Not that you would care, anyway."

"Not that I would care?" she spluttered. "We're the ones who've been treating you back to health! We could have left you for the Twenty-First Nome to kill, but we didn't! We rescued you and brought you here. And now you're all suspicious, like WE'RE the bad guys!"

"Maybe because you are," Carter responded.

Okay, he was confused. He had memories that were fading, and fast. And these people who claim that they're his _friends? _How _stupid_ did they think he was?

Paige shoved him. "Jerk," she snarled. "We're trying here!"

Carter said nothing. He felt strangly out of character, but his only excuse was memory loss. So there it was. His excuse.

"Leave him alone." To his shock, he realized that it was Ette. Her voice had an edge of annoyance, and she was scowling at Paige and Aarya.

"You're _defending _him?" Hunter snarled.

"You're arguing is giving me a headache," Ette responded flatly. "End of story. Like Irma said, his head was bashed. It isn't quite his fault he's acting stupid."

"Hey!" Carter protested.

Ette gave him a bored glance. "My point has just been made." She turned on her heel. "He's expecting us later," she called over her shoulder. "Don't be late, Aarya. You know how he gets." With that, she was gone.

Aarya huffed and exited as well, shortly followed by Irma and Paige. Hunter shook his head and left. Saul, who had been so quiet that Carter didn't even notice him, muttered, "Good luck," to him before leaving.

With an irritated sigh, Carter left as well.

Peter stood there, alone, asking, "What happened to sparring?"

* * *

"Do we have a lock on his location?"

"No." Sadie's voice was short. "Wherever they are, they're hiding well."

Walt sighed and sagged against his chair. "What could they possibly be planning?"

"Oh, I dunno," Sadie said sarcastically. "Maybe they kidnapped Carter so they could force him to buy ice cream for them! Or, or maybe so they could hold him for ransom! Yes, because all magicians just _love _money when they also have magic. Or-I think this is a really good one- world domination! Wouldn't _that _be a surprise!"

Walt gave her a flat look. "I get it."

"Oh? So you don't have an urber powerful god living inside you anymore?"

"Sadie. I know you're tense right now, and that's causing you to snap, but calm down."

"I am not snapping!"

Just then, Zia entered the room. She was carrying scrolls she had collected from the library.

"Do you have a lock on his location?" she asked Sadie.

The blonde threw her hands into the air. "How many times do I have to say 'no' today?!"

Zia lifted an eyebrow. "Okay. Just checking."

"Ignore her. She's going to snap any second," Walt said.

"Stop _saying _that!"

Zia rolled her eyes. "I found some things in the library that might help."

"In finding my git of a brother?" Sadie asked flatly.

"No. To understand their motives," Zia corrected. "If we understand what they're trying to do, then maybe we have a better chance of finding them."

There was a pause. Then, Sadie said: "I fail to follow your logic, Zia."

Zia sighed and studied the scrolls without another word. When she was sure they weren't looking, she pulled out another book, titled: _Ways to Bring Back the Dead. _

There was no way she could tell them. Just...no.


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own the Kane Chronicles.**

* * *

He was getting smarter. He was beginning to regain his memories.

This wasn't good.

Aarya mixed the liquid in the cup absentmindedly, not bothering to pay attention to it. She couldn't...no, she wouldn't let this happen. She wouldn't allow him to go back. Not without a fight.

Not without her death.

She gritted her teeth, thinking of that stupid girl. **_Zia. _**

Oh, how she hated that girl. She needed to kill her now. Make her pay for what she had done.

No...he promised her that she would kill Zia in time. She just needed to be patient.

Yes, Zia Rashid would die by her hands. A miserable, horrible, bloody death. Aarya could hardly wait for that day to come. But until then...

"Aarya."

The girl turned to look at Peter, who had suddenly appeared.

"Is it ready yet?" Peter asked.

"Almost," Aarya answered. "I just need a little more of this..." She squeezed three drops of dark red liquid into the cup. The contents of the cup flashed green, before turning into a clear liquid. She sniffed it, making sure it held no scent.

"It's ready now," she said, her voice dull.

"Relax," Peter told her. "If we can't keep his memories away...then we'll have to give him false ones."

"Yes. Of course." She turned to face Peter. On her face was a small smirk. "After all, it's for his own good."

* * *

_He was on the battlefield. Around him, magicians were everywhere, killing, striking against one another. What was...?_

_"Carter."_

_He turned, and there, was Zia. He felt his heart flutter, and despite where he was, he gave her a small smile. "Hi, Zia."_

_"We need to go," she begged. "Sadie and the others expect me to kill you. Please, come with me. I need to talk to you. I can't kill you...I just can't."_

_That meant she felt the same way about him?_

_"Of course," he answered. "The others expect the same of me...but I can't kill you either."_

_"Come on!" She grabbed his hand and raced away. Soon enough, they left the battlefeild behind. When Zia finally slowed down, she leaned against a large boulder, trying to catch her breath._

_"What are we going to do? We can't just leave our stuff behind," Carter said._

_"No...you're right. We'll come back for it. Assuming that they don't burn our stuff." She smiled weakly. _

_Carter stood next to her, leaning against the boulder, his eyes shut. "Yeah..."_

_"CARTER!"_

_His eyes flew open. Aarya. She was there, and she was fighting Zia, who had a knife in her hand._

_"You have no part in this!" Zia hissed at Aarya. "Let me kill him! Let me kill that stupid boy!"_

_Zia...had tried to kill him? But he trusted her. He had exchanged letters with her behind the other's back. She said she couldn't kill him. _

_She was lying. That was the only explanation._

_No...this was all wrong..._

_All wrong..._

_All wrong..._

**_THIS IS ALL WRONG!_**

Carter woke, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.

"Just a dream," he muttered to himself. Was it another possible memory, though? No, it couldn't be. It shouldn't be.

"Wakey wakey," a voice sang. The door opened, and Carter squinted against the bright light. Aarya was there, holding a tray filled with food.

Carter glared at her, instantly on guard. "What do you want?"

"I'm just here to bring food," she told him flatly. "Nothing special."

"With you, I'm almost certain you're trying to posion me." He thrust her back the glass of water she had given to him the night before. "I know what you're doing. You are not my friends."

Aarya looked hurt. "The spell is having more effect on you than I thought."

"Spell? What spell?" Carter demanded.

"Carter, Zia placed a spell on you to turn you against us. It was months ago." Aarya sounded like she was on the verge of tears. "Carter, don't you remember me? The times we spent together? Or is it so easy for Zia to break that bond?"

Carter stared at her. "Wow, Aarya, you..."

She looked up at him, her expression filled with hope.

"...need acting lessons."

Her face dropped into a scowl. "Eat," she ordered him. "I don't have time for this. I honestly thought that you would remember...but I guess I was wrong. I'll just have to wait a little longer before I can kill her."

"Woah." Carter held up his hands. "Her?"

"Zia. The one who placed the spell on you."

"Why do you want to kill her?" he snapped. "She didn't do anything."

"_SHE PLACED A SPELL ON YOU!" _Aarya yelled. _"GOD, CARTER! ARE YOU REALLY SO LOVESICK THAT YOU DON'T EVEN REMEMBER THE THINGS SHE DID TO YOU? TO ME?! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! NOT ONE THING THAT THAT LITTLE WITCH DID TO MY FAMILY!"_

Carter blinked, stunned by the harshness in Aarya's tone.

Aarya took a deep breath. "I need to go," she said calmly. "He requests my presence."

"He? Who's he?"

Aarya didn't answer him. Instead, she slammed the door behind her, once again leaving Carter alone in the dark, empty room.

* * *

"You're revealing to much too soon," Ette hissed.

"What will the Master have to say?" Irma said nervously, biting her nails. "He'll be furious!"

Hunter stepped in. "Let's not forget that we're the reason that the Master is still gripping to life," he told Irma calmly. "He'll be mad, but he won't destroy her."

Aarya gripped the table so hard her knuckles turned white. "Ette and Irma are right," she said. "I'm losing my temper too quickly. I need to be more careful. He suspects us enough as it is, and the last thing we need is for us to reveal our entire plans."

"But how do we gain his trust?" Paige asked. "It's not like we can butter him up and then tell him our plans."

"Yes, she's right."

The others turned to Saul, stunned. He hardly said anything during these kinds of meetings, but when he did, he had every reason to.

"We need to gain his trust slowly," Saul continued. "I think I have the perfect idea, too." He pointed to himself, Peter, and Hunter. "It'll require the three of us, though."

Aarya nodded. "Yes...yes, go out with your plan. Report any signs of progress to us."

"Of course."

A door, which the group was standing in front of, began to glow.

"It's time to face the Master," Irma told them.

None of them bothered to say "Obviously" as they entered the glowing door. Behind them, the door shut, sealing them inside.


	6. Chapter 6

**I am SO freaking sorry. I really don't have an excuse unless you look at my profile.**

**I do not own the Kane Chronicles. **

* * *

Outside, it was bitterly cold. The snow felt like tiny daggers piercing her skin, even though she had a thick coat on.

Anxious, Zia looked at her watch for the third time.

Two thirteen.

Where was she?

"I'm surprised you actually went through with this," a voice said, sounding fairly amused.

Zia didn't turn around. "I called this meeting. Why wouldn't I show up?"

"Because," the voice said, taking a different tone, "you, Zia, are afraid to face the truth."

The girl snorted. "About what? I know you're just trying to get to me. It's some kind of stupid trick. Well, I'm telling you, it won't work."

"Is that what you think?" the voice asked, sounding hurt. "This isn't a disguise, Zia. You of all people should understand that."

She clenched her hands. "You're lying. She wouldn't do this to me."

"That was before you ran away like a coward."

"I am no coward."

"Tsk, tsk, Zia. So much has changed in the time I was absent. You should clean up that attitude of yours."

The girl whipped around, snarling, "You have no right to say that!"

There was no one behind her.

There weren't even any footprints. It was like no one was ever there.

* * *

"He isn't cooperating," Ette was saying.

"So you tied him _up?" _Aarya asked, sounding tired.

"What were we supposed to do?" Hunter asked defensivly. "He was throwing objects all over the place!"

Carter, who was struggling against his binds, shouted, "That's a lie!"

"Shut up," came Hunter's irritated responce.

Aarya sighed. "Guys, leave. I'm going to talk to him."

Paige nudged her friend in the side. "Remember the deadline," she hissed. "He's going to get impatient."

The girl nodded back. "I know," she whispered. "Just give me a few minutes. I can explain everything. Just leave. I think that above everyone, I have some of his trust."

Irma gave Aarya a sad smile. "Good luck," she whispered, before walking out of the room, followed shortly by Paige and Peter.

Ette rolled her eyes. "You're gonna need it," she muttered, adding onto Irma's sentance. "The guy's more stubborn than a mule. I can't believe we went through all that trouble in order to get stopped by a stupid spell cast by that stupid girl..."

Hunter said nothing. Instead, he just scowled and stomped off. Saul, who hadn't said anything, followed after him, sending Carter and Aarya and apologetic glance.

Once everyone had gone, Aarya sat on the edge of the bed, looking sheepish as she watched Carter continue to struggle with his bonds for several minutes.

Finally, Carter craned his neck to glare at her. "Would it _kill _you to untie me?"

"Huh? Oh, sure." Reaching over, Aarya yanked at a strand of rope and watched as it all fell apart around Carter.

The boy blinked. "How did you do that?"

"Classic trick. I offered to teach it to you, remember?"

He gave her a blank stare.

The girl sighed and shook her head. "Never mind. You don't remember, anyway."

"I wonder why," he muttered sarcastically. "Maybe because I never met you."

"Look, I know you don't believe me, or anyone else. But please, just listen to me. I want to tell you...I want to tell you the full story." Aarya kicked at the ground, looking gloomy.

"Forget it. I know you're lying."

"Carter, please, just _listen."_

The urgency in her tone took him by surprise. She sounded so...sincere.

When he didn't say anything, Aarya continued. "You see...you used to travel with your dad a lot. You moved from place to place all the time."

"My...dad."

That's right. He had a dad, didn't he?

"Yeah." She nodded. "Well, you were visiting your sister, Sadie. That day, I tried to approach you...but an evil girl named Zia stopped me. She was planning to kill you, and the man with her, Desjardins, was working along with her. They worked for the evil Twenty-First Nome, and they wanted you dead."

She proceeded to tell him everything, from when they made something called the Rosetta Stone blow up, and blamed it on his father, who had died in it. They took him and Sadie, his sister, to their Headquarters in Egypt, where they were to be executed. But the Chief Lector, Iskander, had sensed a great power in them, and he figured that if he could control it, he could take over the world with humans as slaves.

She went on, telling him how he defeated Set, the god of evil, who was in the way of the Nome's plans for domination. They discovered that their father had turned into Osiris, and were heartbroken. Carter frowned at that. His frown deepened when she added that they saw his mother, too, as a ghost, who was in on the evil plot, and lied to her children in order for them to carry out their bidding.

"She figured if you knew the truth, you would stop."

"How do you know all of this?" Carter asked suspiciously.

Aarya smiled weakly. "Scrying. I almost killed myself a dozen times using too much magic because I was trying to keep track of you."

She went on, explaining that he and Sadie built up their own little Nome, unknowingly teaching the trainees dark magic. It was months before she had the chance to approach them.

"I came in and explained everything," Aarya mumbled, wringing her hands together. "I tried to tell you what you were doing was wrong, and if you continued, you would only end up hurting millions of people. By that time, Iskander had died, and Desjardins had taken up his plans. He never liked you, and he exiled you, swearing to kill you. But you and Sadie were also determined to carry out Iskander's warped wishes, thinking that it was to help the world." She let out a sniff. "When I told them this, Sadie told me I was lying. She never wanted to see me again, and tried to attack me. It was too late for her. She had accepted the evil ways, and there was no changing her back."

There was a long silence. Aarya looked up at him shyly.

"You were different, though," she said quietly. "You convinced Sadie to calm down, and let me stay the night. It was a December evening, and it was bitterly cold. Even though Sadie didn't like it, she agreed on the condition that I would leave in the morning. You were so kind...and I knew then that there was still hope for you."

Carter said nothing.

"Peter, Ette, Paide, Irma, Hunter, Saul and I were apprentices of a man...he was extremely powerful. He was a force of good, and he learned of you. He became...interested, I could say. He was desperate to save you. Hunter argued, saying that you weren't worth it. You had crossed into the dark side, and that it was too late to save you..."

Her eyes grew sad, thinking about the man she was describing.

"You guys cared about him a lot, didn't you?" Carter asked gently. He wasn't too sure if he believed her, but he felt kind of sorry for her.

"Yeah. We did," she said quietly. "He was...misunderstood. He was amazing, but in the end, everyone rejected him, simply because they couldn't understand the need for a better future. They were so used to war...to fighting instead of peace...that change was horrifying to them. It was all too fast; they weren't ready to accept it. Because of one little mistake, he was ruined forever. But...he wanted to help you."

She fell silent after that. Carter felt sympathy overwhelm him.

"What happened after that?" he asked softly, just loud enough for her to here.

Aarya gave him the tiniest smile, but it looked forced. "He approached you one day. He explained everything much better than I ever did. He tried to describe the perfect world, somewhere where we were all united under one ruler. But..."

"But what?" he asked after a moment's pause.

Her look darkened. "A girl by the name of Zia was there. She was well into the evil arts, but she was never tricked. She was evil, right to the core. She would lie to save her own skin in a heartbeat. She would lie to get whatever she wanted, and she was ruthless. You...you..."

_You liked her, _Carter realized. That was what she was going to say.

"She manipulated you. You..."

Her voice was starting to crack.

"You killed him."

His eyes widened with horror. The raw emotion she was displaying was almost enough to convince him that she was telling the truth.

"That's why Hunter doesn't like me," he murmured. "He hates me because I killed your mentor."

"He sacrificed so much for you...and you slaughtered him without a second thought. Hunter hated you for it. He never really got over that. But...you changed."

He blinked at her. "What do you mean?"

She smiled softly. "The moment you killed him, you realized something was wrong. Your suspicions were proved correct when Zia finally told you the truth. They thought you were ready...but they were wrong. For that, I'm glad. You ran away, and you eventually found us two weeks later and told us the whole story. We...we grew close."

He had a feeling that there was a double meaning behind that.

"You and Peter because fast friends. Paige had fun irritating you. Saul was never one to really talk, but he did speak a few words to you. Irma is nice to everyone. But Hunter...Hunter never really forgave you. We understood you were under the influence of evil. Sometimes, when you got in fights with them, that old grudge would come up again. But other then that...we did forgive you. Maybe we were still bitter, but it was never your fault..."

Her eyes looked up and met with his. They were clouded with anger.

"It was that coward's."


End file.
